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Friday, October 24, 2014

Cheat Sheet - Ebola in NYC Hurts Patients Everywhere

Dr. Craig Spencer, the 33-year-old diagnosed on Thursday in New York City with Ebola, went to Guinea on a mission to help the Ebola-torn nation. He had hoped to inspire other doctors to go and fight the outbreak, but Abby Haglage reports that his devastating diagnosis may end up deterring doctors from helping just when they are needed most.

The parents of James Foley, the journalist ISIS beheaded in August, are still trying to understand the White House efforts to rescue their son. When the family found out the administration bargained for Bowe Bergdahl's life, Eli Lake reports, they begged for the same treatment—only to be denied.

Four NYPD officers were attacked on Thursday night in Queens by a man with a metal hatchet, wounding one officer in the arm and another in the head. The latter officer is now in critical condition, while the suspect is dead after being shot by police. The hatchet-wielder, Zale H. Thompson (who is believed to have been about 32 years old), reportedly had a criminal record in California and was discharged from the Navy for misconduct. He said nothing as he approached the four officers who were taking a photo. Authorities are investigating whether the unprovoked attack is tied to recent calls by radicals to attack the military or police officers. "There is nothing we know as of this time that would indicate that were the case," police Commissioner Bill Bratton said. "I think certainly the heightened concern is relative to that type of assault based on what just happened in Canada." Thompson first hit a 24-year-old cop in the right arm, then he brought the axe down on a second cop, cracking his skull. The remaining two officers then fired 19 rounds to take him out.

The Utah Supreme Court has lifted an order that had blocked spouses in same-sex marriages from adopting their partner's children. The state's highest court had imposed a stay on the adoptions in May, while Utah appealed a federal ruling last year that permitted same-sex marriages. Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals of same-sex marriage bans and an appeals court reaffirmed its order making same-sex marriages legal in Utah. The state's attorney general ordered county clerks to recognize all legally performed same-sex marriages and petitioned the state Supreme Court to remove its stay on adoptions.

The two lawsuits filed against the IRS by a Tea Party group alleging that the agency unfairly targeted conservative groups was tossed by a federal court on Thursday. "Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this court is without power to decide it," U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton ruled, dismissing one lawsuit brought by True the Vote, a conservative vote-monitoring organization. True the Vote was looking for monetary damages as well as a ban on the IRS ever targeting a conservative group again. The judge noted in his ruling that the lawsuits were dismissed on procedural grounds, not on merit. "The court's opinion should not be interpreted as an assessment of the propriety of the alleged conduct by the defendants," he wrote.